Heat? Check. Humidity? Check. Sweat? Check.
Yep...we're back!
After a wonderful season of rest, I find myself back in the land where the heat causes the butter on my counter to become a pool of yellow after an hour. Where hundreds of tiny eight-legged creatures invite themselves regularly to my dinner table. Where driving on the road is like being in a life-size game of Frogger {
This place I now call my home is uncomfortable. It does, at times, agitate and irritate my often times overly-sensitive and vulnerable sensibilities. My flesh would love to whine and complain about the heat. It takes great delight in grumbling about the ants doing a conga-line on my dinner table. My sin would gladly scream unloving words to other drivers as they narrowly miss my car. And easily my selfishness would have it so that I would not exert any more energy into fumbling through another conversation with my neighbor.
To allow my sin to lead would be easiest. Most natural. Most comfortable. But praise be to God that comfortable isn't what satisfies me. He is!
It's uncomfortable here. My patience gets tested. My flesh screams for relief. But the God of my heart speaks a better word.
"Then the Lord said,...'I am your portion.'" Numbers 18:20
And my heart is comforted. Revived.
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me." Psalm 138:7
This land that I have returned to is not only uncomfortable. It is beautifully uncomfortable. It is the place that draws me nearer and nearer to the One my heart longs for. The sweltering heat of this life presses me into the only One who cools my desert-dry tongue. I wouldn't trade this for the world. Knowing the lovingkindness of the Lord revives my soul; refreshes me as though a deer beside streams of water. My heart aligns with the Psalmist's:
"O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You." Psalm 63:1-3
So, I invite the uncomfortable. I take joy in being stretched more and more beyond the status quo. I enjoy walking {sometimes it feels like running!} this adventure with Jesus. Trusting Him with each and every uncomfortable step, knowing full well that His path leads to everlasting joy and righteousness...with Him. My heart's home.
O Lord, strengthen my heart to love You above all else. Lead me into the beautifully uncomfortable, for come what may, I am following. Amen.
2 comments:
I just love God's timing. This was such an encouragement to me today. Praying God's blessing on you as you serve where God has planted you.
Thank you, Sue. My heart is glad that you have been encouraged. All glory and praise is His!
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